Bacsayan, Bayoyo, Banayoyo
The Municipality of Banayoyo was originally called “Bacsayan”. How it got its present name “Banayoyo” could be recounted by the following story:
Long time ago, indigenous people of Abra and Mountain Province were looking for a place to settle and found a place at the Western Part of Cordillera Mountain. Lately, they called this place “Bacsayan” which means settlement area.
As time passed, these people (Tinguian and Igorot Tribes) intermarried and it did not take long enough, they formed another tribe. However, both tribes had different dialects. Thus, the result of the intermarriage resulted to one dialect derived from the “Tinguian of Abra” and “Igorot of Cordillera” – born the “Itneg” of the newly formed tribe. The Datu and the council of elders then made their own rules based primarily on the cultures of Abra and Cordillera.
In the southeastern part of the place, there was a big and sturdy tree, which the townfolks called “Bayoyo”. The Datus and the Council of Elders agreed to build a “Dap-ay” (a structure where the leaders meet or gather for the settlement of problems and disputes among its tribal members) and “Pandek” – a storeroom for arms (Aliwa, Kalasag and Pika) and communal kitchen and dining utensils. In this place, they also practice the ritual called “Begnas”, a ritual of 3-day activity and Thanksgiving to “Kabunian”(GOD) after a very productive and fruitful harvest season. The tree called “Bayoyo” was always strong and sturdy following their belief that the tree brought luck to the whole populace.
Due to old age, the tree died and at that time, drought struck the place. Their harvest decreased, famine and hunger were experienced by the people. With the belief that the calamity is caused by the death of the tree, the leaders held a meeting and came up with an agreement to hold another ritual called “sapu” to find out the cause of their painful and tragic experience. Thus, they have discovered that their entire ordeal was due to negligence of some tribal members in giving thanks to “Kabunian” (God). In a long series of exchange of ideas to amend the sad events that they had undergone, the Datus and the Council of Elders decided to change the name of the place “Bacsayan” to “Bayoyo” in remembrance to the strong and sturdy tree and believed that bad lucks will be wiped out by the name “Bayoyo”. The tree somehow is a symbol of unity among all the tribal members under its wide shady branches. It was only during the Spanish Regime that the name “BAYOYO” was changed to “BANAYOYO”.
The tree somehow is a symbol of unity among all the tribal members under its wide shady branches.
Begnas is still held. It is on the municipality’s calendar of yearly festivities as Begnas di Banayoyo — the thanksgiving to Kabunian that the elders kept at the Dap-ay under the Bayoyo tree, and whose neglect the sapu, held after the tree died and the harvest with it, found at the root of the drought. The tourism plan carries six photographs of it: the covered court, the woven cloth, the gongs. The name of the place changed. The practice did not.
A performer in a black cape and woven red cloth, bent low, on a covered court.
Two dancers in woven red-and-black attire mid-step, spectators along the wall behind.
A line of performers in woven attire, gongs in hand, on the court.
Officials seated at a red-draped table while a performer in woven cloth speaks into a microphone.
Two young dancers in woven attire, a crowd seated behind them.
Performers in a row striking flat gongs, the court open to trees behind.
Begnas di Banayoyo. Photographs from the municipal tourism plan.
